"Hey Gilrine, I want to ask you something" Michael came to Gilrine's side. The big man was still staring at the door that Gaya walked through.
"Hello," he had to pat Gilrine on the shoulder to get his attention,
"Oh sorry, did you say something?"
"Yeah, I want to ask if someone from another house could share the room with me"
Gilrine was taken aback by surprise,
"No no no no, god no. You just came to Mazeorth and you already found a mate" the big man was frantically shaking his head,
"It's not a girl, he's just a friend" Michael quickly said before Gilrine could get another idea,
"Why can't he stay in his room?" asked Gilrine as Michael waved at Nightmare to bring Wilkas closer.
Hearing the footsteps, Gilrine turned around and saw Wilkas walking towards them. The moment, he saw the half-elf, Gilrine discovered why Ghost was asking such a question,
"Oh"
Michael noticed the sadness emerge in Gilrine's eyes for a moment when he saw Wilkas,
"You can share rooms, there are no rules against a student from another house bunking in another house room. It's a common thing here"
When Wilkas came to them, Gilrine patted Wilkas on the shoulder,
"Have it rough eh? It will get better, don't fret about it"
Gilrine sounded as though he had personal experience of getting bullied. It was obvious to everyone that Gilrine isn't a pure-blooded human. Michael guessed he might be half-giant and half-human.
Compared to the humans, the elves were next-level racists. Hence, Wilkas was affected by the racism much more than Gilrine,
"Yeah, he's having it rough. So he will stay with us" Michael placed his hand on Wilkas's shoulder with a smile. Wilkas felt like he was being stared at by a predator as he swallowed a mouth full of saliva. Wilkas wasn't a softhearted one. The life on the streets forged him to be cold, cunning, and headstrong. However, something about the human before him sent a chill through his spine.
"You two should return to the great hall. Your prefects will be waiting there"
Gilrine patted the youngsters before gently stroking Nightmare's chin.
"Good luck with your classes tomorrow. Especially in your combat classes, professor Steinmeyer freaks me out"
"You didn't see?" Wilkas asked Gilrine,
"Saw what?"
"Nothing. Come on 45, it's way past your bedtime" Michael dragged him away from Gilrine before Wilkas spilled the beans about Gaya and him.
"See you tomorrow Gilrine" Michael waved at Gilrine before making his way to the great hall.
The great hall was once again packed with students when he arrived. Few of the elves gave Wilkas a death glare while some just ignored him completely as though he didn't exist.
Michael could care less about these racist assholes.
"House Alchemists, follow me in an orderly manner," said a curly brown-haired youngster.
"Arch energy flow will be blocked in three…two…one" a voice echoed through the hall,
When the voice said one, the Arch energy in the hall disappeared. However, Michael did not feel any difference. In fact, he could feel the arch energy running in his body.
[The changes the system made to you when you were in the Southern continent applies in Akilan Realm too. You can thank me now]
"It's not like you did it for free. Anyways, I appreciate the help" said Michael in his mind.
As they were following the perfect, more and more elves down the hall were staring at Wilkas. Some of the elves were slapping him on the head for no reason. The perfect seemed to ignore it and Michael started to get annoyed by this.
"Fuckers" Wilkas cursed under his breath. When he received the invitation to join Mazeroth, he was happy in his life for the first time. He thought he would finally be free of elves and their bullying. His fantasy was shattered as he realized this place was no different than Awor, filled with elves.
On top of these racist bullies, he ended with a human who somehow saw him breaking space rings and stealing stuff. Wilkas still had no idea what the human wanted from him.
As Michael expected they followed the prefect to a wall where there was a portrait of a lady with green hair hanging on.
"Password," the lady asked in a melodious voice,
"Proporium Triecto"
The portrait swung forward to reveal a round hole in the wall. They all scrambled through it and found themselves in the Alchemist common room, a cozy, square room.
Once they arrived inside the room, they were welcomed by the roaring fire, squashy armchairs, and sofas. The dormitories were reached by climbing the winding mahogany staircase, decorated with emerald green. Posters of a few old people and a twelve feet tall massive painting of a green-haired lady with two saplings in her hand were covered with thick golden blankets.
She was one of the four founders of Mazeroth and the patron of House Alchemist, Ingrid Stenham. Gold chandeliers cast a warm glow all around, making the room cozier and shinier.
The room was full of squashy armchairs, tables, and a bulletin board where school notices, ads, lost posters, etc. could be posted. The common room was decorated in several shades of emerald green, which was associated with the house. The common room was comfortable, but not more comfortable than the Warrior House Basement. There were also bookcases located in the room, filled with various novels and forms of literature.
The room was instantly hated by Michael due to the lack of darkness and to be exact, too much green. He wanted to wear sunglasses to cover his eyes from all the greenness.
"Boys' rooms are this way" the perfect pointed to the mahogany staircase at the far end of the room,
"Girls' are through that door" he then pointed at the door on the right as the girls made their way to their rooms instead of spending some time in the common room.
Michael and Wilkas reached the dormitory by climbing the stairs. In front of them was a narrow corridor and on either side of the corridors were doors that had no number of any sort.
"Take a room you like, we have so many" the prefect's voice came from behind as the boys began to get into a room one by one. Michael loved some privacy and silence hence he chose the last room at the far end of the corridor.
The room was equipped with a centrally-located mini fireplace and a bunk bed flanked by a set of windows and space for storing personal belongings. On the window sill, a water jug was placed, in case any of the students should feel the need for a drink in the middle of the night. A wooden board was located on either side of the bed. A wooden chair and dresser were located on one side of the bed, near the nightstand. A wooden bookcase was located on the other side of the bed with books on top of it. The room had stone walls and wooden floors. The windows had emerald green curtains just like the carpet with the house crest; a single tree in the center of it.
"I'll take the top bed" Michael took off his silver long coat and hung it on the dresser before jumping up onto his bed.
"Are you gonna tell me who the hell are you and what do you want from me?" Nightmare flapped his wings to land on Michael's chest.
"What's your plan in life?" Instead of answering Wilkas's question, he questioned Wilkas,
"You're gonna live your whole life scrounging for coins like a petty thief?"
Asked Michael,
"Nah, he will get caught one day and probably die in prison. If he didn't get beaten to death first"
"So you two are now my well-wishers?" Wilkas rolled his eyes, plugging into the comfy chair beside him,
"We can be," Nightmare said,
"There's someone who would pay a lot for your talent, Wilkas"
"Is that so?" Wilkas leaned back to listen to his sales pitch,
"Since you might have grown up in the streets, you probably know what kind of men would pay a lot for thieves like you"
"As a matter of fact, I know and I've worked for many. I probably know the person you are talking about"
"Trust me you dont. No one knows him, you just do our work without asking any questions and he would pay you quite handsomely. What are you saying?"
"Hey, im just a petty thief. I stole a scroll years ago which showed me how to break open space rings okay. Here I said it. What kind of work can I do to earn a lot? I'm not a cultivation monster like you"
"But you are a runemaster and my employer is looking for an ambitious runemaster. Your star level doesn't matter, if you serve him well, he can make you climb up the star levels and even reach the 6-star level"
"You can't bullshit a bullshitter sixty-six or whatever your name is"
Knock!
Knock!
Someone knocked on the door. Wilkas was closer to the door so he opened the door to see an old lady with a trolly full of stacks of clothes,
"Oh," the woman seemed surprised to see a half elf. Several seconds later, she put a smile on her face,
"Your uniforms dear, two Alchemist robes I presume" asked the old woman,
"Nah" Wilaks shook his head, pretending he didn't see the surprised look on her face,
"One Alchemist and one Runemaster please"
The old woman picked up an emerald green robe from the top of the trolly and a navy blue one from under. He handed over the neatly pressed robes to Wilkas.
"There he is" just when the lady was about to turn the trolley and leave, a tall lean, and mean-looking elf arrived. He was not alone, he had a group of five elves behind him. All of them were wearing gray robes with golden borders,
Sensing the trouble, the old woman rushed away from the room as fast as her old legs could move.
"Oh no you dont"
The elves grabbed the door before Wilaks could shut it close. Nightmare craned his neck to see five elves walking into their room like they own the room. One of the elves leading the group pushed Wilkas onto the chair behind,
"So the filthy rat is hiding in the sewers"
"Guys should we not do this now" Wilkas tried to wiggle himself out of the trouble,
"This is the perfect time to do this. Guys close the door, we don't want the rat to escape do we?" the elf put his leg Wilkas's chest and pressed him against the chair,
"Evindal, do we really have to waste this healing potion on him?" the elven girl asked worriedly. She seemed to care more about the healing potion than what was about to happen to Wilkas,
"We can't risk getting expelled, Leena. Especially because of this filth"
The elves completely ignored Michael. Nightmare turned his head towards Michael and saw him lay down on the bed with his eyes closed. He did not seem like he was going to intervene.
"We really shouldn't do this," said Wilkas,
"Or we like to do"
Plap!
The elf slapped Wilkas with enough force to produce an ear-piercing sound. The hand mark was imprinted on Wilkas's pale face. His face reddened,
"Gu-"
Plap!
Wilkas's words were abruptly interrupted by another slap. This time, blood started to seep through his nostrils due to the force,
"Ghost do something" Nightmare whispered yet Ghost remained still.